Peaceful Canyon, Golden River:
A Photographic Journey Through Fabled Glen
Canyon
Compiled by David and Gudy Gaskill
"On this great river one could glide
forever and here discover the definition of
bliss, salvation, heaven . . . a journey from
wonder to wonder."
- Edward Abbey
In June of 1949, Dave and Gudy Gaskill
pushed off into the Colorado River above
fabled Glen Canyon to experience for themselves
a journey that Edward Abbey called "the
ultimate Homeric voyage." Down this
peaceful canyon and along its gleaming,
golden river, they found a magnificent world
of soaring sandstone cliffs, fern-decked
alcoves, and haunting solitude. Before this
national treasure disappeared forever beneath
the waters of Lake Powell in 1963, the Gaskills
and many others made numerous trips down
Glen Canyon, including its maze of spectacular
side canyons, preserving on film a record
of one of nature's supreme creations.
Glen Canyon was once no less unique and
worthy of preservation as any of the world's
celebrated natural wonders. Nature had designed
a river corridor both serenely beautiful
and dramatic - a peaceful canyon entwined
with its golden river. Since the Powell
expedition of 1869, the human world has
tried to express its awe (and later, sense
of loss) for a place described by Zane Grey
as, "too magnificent to be compared
with others." They came to The Glen
for many different reasons: to explore and
survey one of the last remaining unknown
regions of the United States, to dream of
wealth and fortune, or to satisfy their
own curiosity. Whatever the reason, all
seemed struck by this supreme creation of
the natural world, not of the human, with
its countless sylvan glens, monolithic walls,
beckoning tributaries, white-sand beaches,
and noble buttes and promontories. In Peaceful
Canyon, Golden River, the Gaskill's have
collected the inspirational quotations of
writings from a century of explorers, miners,
surveyors and river-runners, along with
a trove of archival photographs, remember
this most beautiful and peaceful of canyons
and its gleaming, golden river.
Now this priceless archive is available
just as debate heats up about the future
of big dams, and of the few remaining stretches
of wild river, in The West. Over 200 stunning,
full-color images, collected from some 35
photographers, detail the loss of the greatest
river of them all. Detailed maps show both
the old river mileage and modern lake-buoy
mileage, so that today's recreationalists
on Lake Powell can place the treasures that
lie beneath the waves. As a bonus, an included
CD-ROM extends the record of The Glen's
wonders with over 800 color photos, sounds
of the canyon, and inspiring music from
artist/Glen Canyon champion Katie Lee.
Armchair travelers, preservationalists,
lake enthusiasts and river runners will
find this an invaluable historic reference.
Mile-by-mile along the river, evocative
places like "Cathedral of the Desert"
and "Music Temple" live again
as caught moments in a magnificent, but
vanished landscape. An earlier book of Glen
Canyon photographs was called The Place
No One Knew. As this book attests, it might
be more accurate to call Glen Canyon the
place no one could forget.
The Gaskills have been exploring The West
and running its great rivers for over half
a century. Gudy Gaskill is known throughout
the country to hikers as the "mother"
of the 468-mile Colorado Trail. They live
in Golden, Colorado.
96 PP., 11" x 8 ½", 228
full-color photos, 11 full-color maps, paperbound,
includes CD-ROM for PC, ISBN 0-9671466-5-8,
$14.95
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